Work began on the Alcazaba in the eleventh century, but most of the walls and the two towers that remain are from the fourteenth century. The main tower is that of El Homenaje. Its interior spaces are covered by oblique domes, except for one that has a wooden roof. The Torre de Papabellotas (Papabellotas Tower) was erected above this tower in the sixteenth century. In this latter tower a bell was installed whose ringing regulated the irrigation of the surrounding farmlands. The Torre Blanca (White Tower), with its chambers distributed over two stories, is linked to El Homenaje by the path along the top of the wall.

A second wall led from the Torre Blanca southward, where the Puerta de Málaga (Málaga Gate), was constructed. This is a graceful tower with a horseshoe arch. After the Christian Conquest, it was used as a hermitage with the name of Virgen de la Espera.